Means for handling material



March 1942- J. E. KENNEDY MEANS FOR HANDLING MATERIAL Filed June 8, 1940 INVENTOR E. [1 mnedy 0% dfifM 7 ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 3, 1942 2,274,708 MEANS FQR HANDLING MATERIAL Joseph E. Kennedy, New York, N. Y., assignor to Kennedy-Van Saun Mfg. & Eng. Corporation, New York, N. Y., a. corporation of Delaware Application June a, 1940, Serial No. 339,426

' 3 Claims. (01. 302-53) This invention relates tomeans for handling pulverulent material such as flour, pulverized coal and cement, and granular material, and is also adapted for handling semi-liquid materials, such as slurries and concrete. Apparatus of this character includes a pressure container having an opening in the bottom and arranged with means to admit fluid under pressure into the container to aerate and place the material in the container under pressure and discharge it through the bottom opening. An outlet member is connected to the container in communication with the bottom opening and the outlet of said member is arranged for the connection of a conduit to extend laterally of the container. The material discharged from the container is conveyed through the outlet of the outlet member and conduit connected thereto to a place for use or storage by fluid under pressure admitted into the outlet member by a nozzle member mounted in the wall of the outlet member. In use the container is filled with the material to be handled at a source of such material and then transported in the container to a place remote from the source of the material where the material is discharged from the container. Should the material handled consist of pulverized material, such as flour, pulverized coal and particularly cement, such material during the transporting of the container will settle and pack in the outlet member and will also pass through A the nozzle orifice into and pack in'the nozzle and n so efiectively block and choke the outlet member and nozzle as to prevent the discharge of the conveying fluid under pressure from the nozzle into the outlet member; To free the material in' the outlet member and nozzle requires the disconnecting of the discharge conduit from the outlet member to permit entering and the manipulating of means in the outlet member to break up and loosen the material therein, as well as the removing of the nozzle to clear the nozzle of material packed therein.

and arranged so that the material at the .con-

tainer outlet will not choke and prevent admission of the fluid under pressure into the outlet means, and also arranged for engaging means to' break up and loosen ny material that may pack at the outlet of the container without removing the discharge conduit or the nozzle from the outlet means, and whereby the fluid under pressure admitted into the outlet means will operate efiiciently to convey material from the outlet means.

In the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this application, c

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly broken away, of a pressure container showing my improved outlet means in connection therewith; and

Figure 2 is a side elevation, on an enlarged scale and partly in section, of my improved outlet means for pressure containers of this character..

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawing as comprising a vertically disposed cylindrical body 3 with a dome head 4 secured to and closing the upper end of the body, the head having an opening. centrally therein through which to fill material into the container and provided with a removable closure, as shown at 5. A hopper bottom 6 having an opening through the apex thereof is secured within the body intermediate the top and bottom, as at, I, by welding or otherwise, the body extending below the hopper bottom and adapted to engage and support the container upon a support 8 and in co-operation with said support forming a housing enclosing the hopper bottom. housing is provided with openings 9, l0 having removable closures, not shown, whereby access .may be had to the parts enclosed within said housing. I

To admit fluid'under pressure, such as air, into the container there is provided a main air inlet pipe or conduit I I the inlet of which is positioned relative to the opening 9, or an opening in the closure therefor, and is adapted for connection of a conduit leading from a source of air under pressure, or for a closure cap I2, as shown. A branch pipe I3 is connected to the conduit ll within the hous ng and is extended through an opening in the wall of the housing along the side and top of the container and connected to the container adjacent thefiller opening 5 to admit the air into the container above and exert a pressure upon the material in the container, the

, pipe l3 having a pressure reducing and regulating-valve interposed therein, shown in a. conventional manner at M. The container is also,

provided with a suitable blow off or safety valve adapted to be actuated when the air in the container rises to a predetermined pressure to re- .lieve the conta ner of 'said pressure, said valve being shown in a conventional manner at IS interposed in the pipe l3 between the pressure re- The ducing valve I4 and the connection of the pipe with the container. Branch pipes I6, I! connected to the conduit II are connected to pipes l6, l1 encircling the hopper bottom of the container to which nozzles l8 are connected disposed about and opening through the hopper bottom to the container. The nozzles are provided with valves normally urged to nozzle oriflce closing position to shut off the nozzles from the container and prevent the material from entering and choking the nozzles in the inoperative condition of the container, and being actuated to nozzle opening position by the pressure of the air pressure admitted to said nozzles. Such valves may be of the type disclosed in Letters ,Patent No. 2,147,300. A conventional valve I9 is provided to control the connection of the inlet conduit H with the branch pipes l3, l6 and IT. The outlet orifice of the nozzles are arranged so that the air admitted through the nozzles into the container is directed along the wall of the container and functions to loosen material from the container wall and aerate the material in the bottom portion of the container.

To facilitate the discharge of the material from the container and convey the discharged material to a place of use or storage remote from the container, outlet means is connected to the container in communication with the opening through the apex of the bottom. This means comprises a cup member 20 connected to the container by a flange extended laterally from the side wall of the cup member abutting a corresponding flange extending laterally from the container bottom and disposed about the opening in the apex thereof, as at 2|, and secured thereto by welding or otherwise. The side Wall of the cup member converges inwardly from the flange, as at 2|, and said wall portion merges with an arcuate bottom wall portion 2|" substantially of semicircular form in cross section extending transversely of the axis of the cup member with the walls at the ends of said arcuate portion extending substantially at a right angle thereto and having alined openings 22, 22 therein. A conduit 24 is connected to the cupmember 20 in communication with the outlet opening 22' by an annular flange at the end thereof abutting the cup member, as at 25, and secured thereto as by bolts or otherwise. The conduit 24 is of a length to extend through the opening 9 inthe extended wall portion of the container body; or

. end of the plug closure abutting a corresponding flange at the end of the conduit 24, as at 21, and releasably secured thereto, as by bolts.

The material in the container moves into the cup member 20 and to discharge such material from the cup member and convey it through the conduit 24 fluid under pressure is admitted into the cup member in opposed relation to and inalinement with the outlet opening 22, and shown as comprising a nozzle 28, which nozzle may be of a type disclosed in Letters Patent No. 2,147,300 except that the nozzle outlet orifice is arranged axially of the nozzle casing. The nozzle 28 is connected by a branch pipe 28 to the air inlet conduit II. To mount the nozzle 28 on the cup member so that the material settling and p cking in the cup member will not obstruct and choke the nozzle it is connected to the cup member by a member arranged with a chamber therein having an outlet connected in communication with the opening 22 in the cup member opposed to and inalinement with the opening 22. As shown, this member comprises a tubular member 30 closed at one end by a removable cap 3|, the opposite end having an annular member 32 secured thereto, as by welding, and constituting an annular flange whereby the tubular member is connected to the cup member 20, as by bolts, in communication with the opening 22 with the tubular member extending laterally from the cup member to adjacent the opening ID in the extended portion of the body of the container and supported at said end by a bracket 33. The nozzle 28 is connected in communication with the tubular member 30 intermediate the ends thereof and the nozzle positioned to discharge the stream toward the connection of said tubular member with the opening 22 in the cup member. For this purpose the tubular member is provided with a Y branch 30' inclining relative thereto at an acute angle to the axis thereof toward its connection with the cup member 20, the junction of said branch with the member 30 being at a point intermediate the ends of the member 30 and in which branch the nozzle 28 is axially mounted.

By the connection of the nozzle 28 through the member 30 to the outlet or cup member 20 with the inlet above and inclining said member 30 slightly downwardly relative to the horizontal, the outlet of the nozzle is not only spaced from the cup member. 20 but is also arranged in a higher plane than the connection of the member 30 to the cup member, and in use it has been found that the material will only partly enter the member 30 and will not rise to a level in the branch 30' so as to choke the outlet of the nozzle 28. This is attributed to the pocketing of air in the member 38 as the material fills into the container and enters the outlet member 28 compressing said air in the member 30 sufliciently whereby it will function to exert a force upon the material to prevent the entrance thereof into said member 38. Should material pack in the outlet member 20, which may be possible when the material handled consists of cement, the cap 3| is removed and an implement may be passed through the member 30 and manipulated from the exterior of the container to break up and loosen such material.

, In discharging material from the container the air under pressure admitted into the container through the nozzles 18 aerates material at the bottom portion of the container and the air admitted into the top of the container will move the material downwardly toward the bottom and cause the material to enter the outlet or cup member 28. The air discharged by the nozzle 28 through the outlet of the member 30 is discharged through the outlet 22' of the cup member 20 into the conduit 24 and will convey material therewith through the outlet conduit 24 and a conduit connected thereto to a place remote from the container.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In means for handling pulverulent, granular and like materials. a pressure container for the material having an opening in the bottom pressure into the container to aerate the material and place it under pressure in the container; 2. cup member connected to the container at the bottom opening and having an inlet opening and an outlet opening in opposite end wall portions; a tubular member having at one end an outlet connected in communication with the inlet opening to the cup member, and at the other end an alined opening provided with a removable closure; said member having a Y branch inclin ing toward the outlet thereof, and a nozzle member mounted in the Y branch for the delivery of air under pressure through the outlet of said tubular member and transversely through the cup member into the outlet opening thereof, said air conveying material from the container through the outlet of the cup member.

2. In means for handling pulverulent, granular and the like materials, a pressure container for the material having a hopper outlet at the bottom, a cup member connected to the hopper outlet and having a wall which converges inwardly and merges with a semi-cylindrical wall portion extending transversely of the hopper outlet with theend walls thereof extending at right angles to the axis of said semi-cylindrical portion and having alined openings therein, one of said openings constituting an inlet opening and the other an outlet opening from the cup member, a tubular member connected at one end to the inlet opening of the cup member and having a removable closure at the opposite end; said tubular member having a Y branch inclining toward the axis and end of the tubular member at which it is connected to the inlet opening of the cup member, and a nozzle mounted in said 1 Y branch adapted to be connected to a source of air under pressure and deliver said air from said tubular'member through the cup member to the outlet opening thereof and'convey material from the cup member through the outlet opening thereof. 4

3. In means for handling pulverulent, granular and the like materials, a pressure container for the material having a hopper outlet at the bottom, a cup member connected to the container in communication with the hopper outlet having an inlet opening and an outlet opening in opposite end wall portions, a tubular member closed at one end connected at the opposite end in communication with the inlet opening to the'cup member, said tubular member having a Y branch extending from adjacent the end of the tubular member connected to the cup member and disposed above the axis thereof, and a nozzle mounted axially in said branch adapted to deliver air under pressure through said tubular member into and through the outlet opening of the cup member and convey material from the cup member through the outlet opening thereof.

JOSEPH E. KENNEDY. 

